You will have a crisis. Are you prepared?

During a crisis, the media’s intensity skyrockets and important audiences monitor your reaction. How you handle the tough questions initially will go a long way toward determining the severity and the duration of that negative coverage.

Mower’s reputation management team has helped with crisis communications for hundreds of clients — from Fortune 500 CEOs to private citizens. Among the issues clients face:

Legal actions

Customer disputes

Bankruptcies

Legislative challenges

Labor issues

Breaches of contract

Spills/leaks/odors

Employee thefts

Criminal wrongdoing

Product failure/recalls

Accidents with death or injury

Layoffs/shutdowns

Rumors/whispering campaigns

Environmental problems

Irresponsible, careless activity

Whistleblowers

Regulatory actions

Strikes, picketing or boycotts

Mower practices reputation management at the highest levels. While protecting bottom lines and reputations, the firm works with legal counsel and insurers on strategies that win in both the court of law and the court of public opinion.

The Mower Public Relations and Public Affairs group is uniquely qualified to support clients on all types of regulatory or legislative issues, especially those facing difficult community, regional or statewide issues, as well as those closely tied to decisions from local, state and federal governments.

Mower offers the resources of a full-service communications agency with a complete range of in-house capabilities, including specialists who handle social media, video, direct mail, advertising, print and broadcast production. This often proves invaluable during a crisis when you must find multiple ways to quickly communicate key messages.

Crisis training

In addition to crisis management, Mower’s PR team of former reporters and battle-tested veterans offers a training called How to Respond During the First Hours of a Crisis.

Designed for groups of up to 25 people, this workshop teaches senior executives and crisis team members how to manage perceptions by communicating properly right from the start of a crisis when many answers remain unknown.

Teachings include:

How to recognize and properly identify a crisis

What to do, step-by-step, during the critical initial stages of a crisis

Relevant media training fundamentals for your spokespersons and crisis team members

What an effective crisis communications plan contains

How to respond to the media, officials and the public given today’s social media landscape

The program’s centerpiece is a crisis simulation where participants manage a rapidly evolving crisis and interact with the press during demonstration interviews to deliver an initial response. We customize the program — especially the simulation — to maximize relevance.

A special version for plant, facility or other front-line operating managers

One popular version of Mower’s crisis training meets the unique needs of organizations that operate in multiple locations far from headquarters.

While based on the same principles and strategies taught to executives back at headquarters, this version covers crisis preparations for front-line or facilities managers and their operating staffs. It provides a clear framework for making good decisions under extreme pressure, preventing a rapidly developing crisis from worsening.

Mower has also conducted formal media training programs for more than 25 years, preparing senior executives and spokespersons for handling difficult situations on short notice. These individuals must perform effectively for an organization embroiled in controversy.